Tourism visa openness report

1. Tourism Visa
Openness Report
Updated for the
5th T.20 Ministers’ Meeting
4 November 2013

2. Copyright © 2013, World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Tourism visa openness report
ISBN (printed version): 978-92-844-1579-3
ISBN (electronic version): 978-92-844-1580-9
Published by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
Updated for the 5th T.20 Ministers’ Meeting in November 2013
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Citation: World Tourism Organization (2013), Tourism visa openness report - T.20 edition, UNWTO, Madrid
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Tourism Visa
Openness Report
Table of Contents
Executive summary
1 Introduction
2 The functions of visas
3 Visa facilitation
4 The global and regional dimensions to visas
5 Reciprocity
6 Progress in recent years
7 Focus on regional and economic blocs
8 Outbound potential and visas
9 Outlook

3. Tourism visa openness report Tourism visa openness report
Executive summary
Tourism visa around the world: 2013 snapshot
• In 2013, destinations around the world still require on
average two thirds of the world’s population to obtain
a visa prior to departure. On the other hand, some
18% of the world’s population was able to enter a
destination without a visa, while another 15% could
receive a visa on arrival.
• Globally there is a significant variety in visa policies,
from countries allowing almost any citizen to enter
freely to countries requesting visas indiscriminately.
• Overall, emerging economies tend to be more open
than advanced ones.
• South-East Asian, East African, Caribbean and
Oceanian destinations are among the most open
regions while Central African, North African and North
American destinations are the most restrictive regions.
Visa facilitation: 2008-2013
• Notable progress has been made in the area of visa
facilitation in recent years.
• While at the beginning of 2008, destinations requested
from an average of 77% of the world’s population
to apply for a traditional visa prior to departure, this
percentage went down to 64% in 2013.
• In total, improvements of visa requirements were made
in 5,930 destination-source market country pairs
between 2010 and 2013.
• A total of 44 destinations significantly facilitated the visa
process for citizens of 20 or more countries between
2010 and 2013, by changing their visa policies from
“visa required” to either “eVisa”, “visa on arrival” or “no
visa required”.
• Destinations, when reviewing their visa policies,
tended to thoroughly review and introduce changes.
Out of the 5,930 total improvements, 5,180 were done
by those countries which changed their visa policies
significantly.
• The most popular facilitation measure was the
introduction of “visa on arrival”. Nearly 60% of all
improvements done between 2010 and 2013 were
from “visa required” to “visa on arrival”.
• The reason for this remarkable and substantial
improvement to facilitation between 2010 and 2013 is
the determined action taken by governments.
Methodological note
• UNWTO surveys visa policies around the world since
2008.
• 2013 data was collected between January and July
2013. The process included a full review of official
destination websites between January to May 2013, a
verification of this information against secondary public
sources and a detailed formal consultation process
on the findings with all national tourism authorities
between May and June of 2013.
1. Report prepared by Dr. Dirk Glaesser and John Kester with valuable input from Márcio Favilla, Sandra Carvao, Lorna Hartantyo, Birka Valentin, Gordon Clark, Lisa Fürbaß, Pia Sabrina Funch, Natalie Wolf, Gaith
Saqqa and Alberto G. Uceda.
Tourism visa openness report
Visa facilitation as means to stimulate tourism growth 1
3
Introduction
The dimensions of international tourism
Over the past six decades, tourism has continued to expand
and diversify; it is now one of the largest and fastest-growing
economic sectors in the world. Many new tourist destinations
have emerged alongside the traditional ones of Europe and
North America. From 1980 to 2012, international tourist arrivals
(i.e., overnight visitors) more than tripled worldwide, leaping from
279 million in 1980 to 1,035 million in 2012, corresponding to an
average growth of 4.2% a year.
In the same period, the export value of tourism – that is,
international tourism receipts, including international passenger
transport – increased from US$125 billion in 1980 to US$1,075
billion in 2012. In real terms, this corresponds to an average
growth of 4.1% a year, which is virtually the same pace as tourist
arrivals.
According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) long-term
forecast Tourism Towards 2030 , international tourist arrivals are
expected to continue to grow at the sustained pace of 3.3% a
year on average, reaching 1.8 billion by 2030.2
International tourist arrivals in the emerging-economy destinations
of Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Eastern
Mediterranean Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will grow at
double the pace (4.4% a year) of advanced economy destinations
(2.2% a year). As a result, arrivals in emerging economies are
expected to surpass those in advanced economies by 2015
and by 2030, 57% of international tourist arrivals will occur in
emerging-economy destinations (versus 30% in 1980 and 47%
in 2010). Arrivals in advanced-economy destinations will make
up 43% of arrivals overall (versus 70% in 1980 and 53% in 2010).
In order to fully reap the socio-economic benefits international
tourism can bring to a country, it is necessary to put in place
conditions that make the country competitive among which most
importantly to make it easy to visit.
The functions of visas
Visa policies are among the most important governmental
formalities influencing international tourism. The development of
policies and procedures for visas, as well as for other important
travel documents such as passports, is closely linked to the
development of tourism. With the swift growth of international
tourisminthelastsixdecades,thequality,reliability,andfunctionality
of visas and other travel documents has evolved. Only half a
century ago, travel was heavily impacted by customs regulations,
currency exchange limitations and visa formalities. A great deal of
progress has been made in facilitation, which has contributed to
the remarkable growth of the tourism sector. Especially noteworthy
are the multilateral agreements that mutually exempt all or certain
categories of travellers from the visa requirement. However,
despite the progress made, namely in recent years, current visa
policies are still often inadequate and inefficient, and are thus
acknowledged to be an obstacle to tourism growth.
Visas perform several functions. They serve to ensure security;
to control immigration and limit the entry, duration of stay, or
activities of travellers; to generate revenue and apply measures
of reciprocity; and to ensure a destination’s carrying capacity and
control tourism demand. Although ‘security’ is commonly stated
to be the most important reason to impose a visa requirement, in
practice, all the functions noted here can be observed, and form a
reason to introduce or maintain a visa.
Travellers see visas mainly as a formality that imposes a cost.
If the cost of obtaining a visa – either the direct monetary cost
imposed in the form of fees or the indirect costs, which can include
distance, time spent waiting in lines, and the complexity of the
process – exceeds a threshold, potential travellers are simply
deterred from making a particular journey or choose an alternative
destination with less hassle. This finding is not new. It is interesting
in this context to note that, in 1963, the delegates of 87 States
agreed, at the United Nations Conference on International Travel
and Tourism in Rome, that “Governments should extend to the
maximum number of countries the practice of abolishing, through
bilateral agreements or by unilateral decision, the requirement of
entry visas for temporary visitors”.3
2. World Tourism Organization (2011), Tourism Towards 2030: Global Overview, UNWTO, Madrid
3. See page 5.
1 2
4

4. Tourism visa openness report
The global and regional dimensions to visasVisa facilitation
Areas of opportunity
Joint research by the UNWTO and the World Travel & Tourism
Council (WTTC), presented to the 4th T20 Ministers’ Meeting in
May 20124
, demonstrates that improving visa processes could
generate an additional US$ 206 billion in tourism receipts and
create as many as 5.1 million jobs by 2015 in the G20 economies.5
The analysis also identified five important areas of opportunity
for visa facilitation: delivery of information; current processes;
differentiated treatment; the use of eVisa programmes; and
regional agreements. These are detailed below.
Improve the delivery of information
The availability and reliability of the information on entry formalities
– especially visa requirements and procedures – that destinations
provide were among the simplest, but also least addressed,
areas of opportunity. This information, especially the elements
of entry formalities of importance to the traveller, should also be
available in multiple languages.
Facilitate current visas processes
A major opportunity for improvement is the way visa requests
for temporary visitors are processed in general as well as the
requirements linked to this process. Whether these requirements
are personal interviews, official documents or certificates,
they usually produce at least temporary bottlenecks as well
as uncertainty and long wait times. Among the techniques
suitable for improving these processes are the better use of
modern information technologies by service providers and the
consideration of visas on arrival.
Differentiate treatment to facilitate tourist travel
The technique of facilitating the visa process for certain types of
visitors is widely used among countries, especially for temporary
visitors who are visiting for tourism purposes. The form this
facilitation takes can range from easing restrictions depending
on the means of transportation – for example, cruise passengers
can be allowed to disembark from the ship without a tourist visa
or to arrive by charter planes – to special treatment for specified
geographical areas or ports of entry.
Institute eVisa programmes
Currently, a widely discussed opportunity is the use of eVisa. If an
entry visa cannot be avoided, eVisa is the option preferred over
the traditional, paper visa. It can be more easily obtained and
requires neither the physical presence of the applicant nor the
presence of the passport. These considerations are especially
important for destinations without a widespread network of
embassies and consulates.
Establish regional agreements
There are already a number of regional agreements in place
that allow travellers from a third country to move freely between
member countries once admitted by one of the participating
countries. For citizens of one of the Member States of some
regions, such as the Schengen area in Europe, it is even possible
to travel without a passport by simply using a valid national
document of identification.
3. (pg 4) United Nations Conference on International Travel and Tourism (1964), Recommendations on International Travel and Tourism, August 21–September 5, 1963. Rome
States represented at the conference were: Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Cambodia, Cameroon,
Canada, Ceylon, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo (Leopold-Ville), Costa Rica, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Federal Republic of Germany, Finland,
France, Greece, Guatemala, Holy See, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Somalia, Republic of South
Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Arab Republic,
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Venezuela and Yugoslavia. UN Specialized Agencies: FAO, UNESCO, ICAO, WHO, IMCO.
4. The T20 Ministers refers to the Tourism Ministers of the G20 economies. The G20 economies are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the
Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
5. World Tourism Organization and World Travel & Tourism Council (2012), The Impact of Visa Facilitation on Job Creation in the G20 Economies, UNWTO and WTTC, Madrid and London.
3 4
Source: Data compiled by UNWTO based on information of national official institutions.
a. Scores range from 100 to 0; the higher the score, the better. Openness indicates to what extent a destination is facilitating tourism. It is calculated by summing the percentage of the world population
exempt from obtaining a visa with the percentages of no visa weighted by 1, visa on arrival weighted by 0.7, eVisa by 0.5 and visa required weighted by 0. For the (sub)regional totals, the percentages
of the four different visa categories and the resulting openness score represent the averages of economies in that group (where destination economies are weighted by natural logarithm of the popula-
tion size (i.e. In ((1,000 population)) in order to take into account differences in destination size).
b. Visa required means that a visa has to be obtained prior to departure and is not an electronic visa (eVisa).
c. Advanced economies and emerging economies classifications are based on the International Monetary Fund (IMF); see the Statistical Annex of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook of April 2012, p. 177,
at www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01.
d. The EU-28 countries are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Rep., Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Ireland, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden; United Kingdom and Croatia.
6. 7. & 8. : See page 7
Subregions of destinations by percentage of world population affected by visa policies, 2013
As a positive outcome of the UNWTO/WTTC report on the
impact of visa facilitation on the G20 economies, G20 leaders
recognized, at their June 2012 Summit, the role of tourism as “a
vehicle for job creation, economic growth and development”.6
Furthermore, they committed to “work towards developing travel
facilitation initiatives in support of job creation, quality work,
poverty reduction and global growth”.7
This position and other measures taken by regional blocks and
individual countries to facilitate tourism visa are much welcome
news; yet despite of these many strides, visa requirements still
affect global tourism significantly. In 2013, destinations around
the world requested, on average, that 64% of the world’s
population obtain a visa before initiating an international journey.
Another 3% of the population was at least allowed to apply for
an eVisa8
, while 15% would be able to apply for a visa on arrival.
Only 18% of the world’s population would not require a visa at all
when traveling for tourism purposes (table 1).
% of world population affected by visa policies
World
Advanced economiesc
Emerging economiesc
By UNWTO regions:
Africa
North Africa
West Africa
Central Africa
East Africa
Southern Africa
Americas
North America
Caribbean
Central America
South America
Asia and the Pacific
North-East Asia
South-East Asia
Oceania
South Asia
Europe
Northern Europe
Western Europe
Central/Eastern Europe
Southern/Mediter. Europe
- of which EU-28dd
Middle East
No visaOpennessa
Visa on arrival eVisa Visa requiredb
30
26
31
29
14
23
5
50
25
36
14
41
36
36
37
29
50
41
26
24
23
23
24
25
22
19
18%
24%
17%
9%
14%
7%
2%
8%
25%
32%
11%
39%
31%
29%
20%
26%
25%
25%
4%
21%
23%
23%
16%
25%
22%
1%
15%
1%
19%
28%
1%
23%
0%
60%
0%
5%
0%
2%
8%
9%
20%
4%
30%
18%
23%
3%
0%
0%
8%
0%
0%
20%
3%
3%
3%
1%
0%
0%
7%
0%
0%
1%
6%
1%
0%
0%
6%
1%
6%
6%
11%
2%
0%
0%
5%
1%
0%
7%
64%
72%
62%
62%
85%
70%
91%
32%
75%
62%
83%
58%
62%
62%
54%
69%
38%
51%
62%
74%
77%
77%
71%
74%
77%
72%
Table 1
5

5. Tourism visa openness report
Tourism visa openness index by region, 2013
Note: The higher the score, the better. Openness indicates to what extent a destination is facilitating tourism. It is calculated by summing the percentage of the world´s population exempt from obtaining a
visa, with the percentages of no visa weighted by 1, visa on arrival weighted by 0.7, eVisa by 0.5 and visa required weighted by 0.
Source: Data compiled by UNWTO based on information of national official institutions.
Disclaimer: The maps elaborated by UNWTO are for reference only and do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
Emerging economies continue to be, in 2013, more open in
terms of travel requirements than advanced ones (table 1)9
.
When traveling to an emerging-economy destination, on average,
62% of the world’s population needs a traditional visa and 3%
an eVisa; for advanced-economy destinations, 72% needs a
traditional visa and 3% an eVisa. However, full exemption from a
visa is more common in advanced economies (24% versus 17%),
whereas in emerging economies obtaining a visa on arrival is much
more common (19% versus 1%).
From a regional perspective, destinations in Asia and the
Pacific have facilitated international travel the most. To
visit Asia and the Pacific, 20% of the world’s population does not
require a visa, another 20% could obtain a visa on arrival, and
6% could use an eVisa. Southeast Asia is, together with East
Africa, the most open subregion because of the large number of
visa on arrival requirements (this is sufficient for 30% of the world’s
population on average) and the considerable number of visa
exemptions (25%) and eVisa alternatives (6%).
6. World Tourism Organization and World Travel & Tourism Council (2012), The Impact of Visa Facilitation on Job Creation in the G20 Economies, UNWTO and WTTC, Madrid and London, Pages 17-18.
7. World Travel & Tourism Council (2012), G20 Recognizes Travel & Tourism as a Driver of Economic Growth for the First Time and Commit to Work on Travel Facilitation, June 20, available: http://www.
wttc.org/news-media/news-archive/2012/g20-recognises-travel-tourism-driver-economic-growth-first-time-/.
8. In 2012, eVisas were accounted for separately for the first time. In 2008 and 2010, eVisas and visas on arrival belonged to the same category.
9. No visa weighted by 1, visa on arrival weighted by 0.7, eVisa weighted by 0.5. and visa required by 0. Data for regions and subregions are average data and might not fully reflect the situation for all
countries, especially in less homogenous subregions such as Africa, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe.
Key
0-10
11-23
24-39
40-69
70-100
When traveling to the Americas, 62% of the world’s population
is required to obtain a traditional visa prior to departure. However,
this figure varies widely across the subregions of the Americas.
While North America is one of the more restricted subregions,
where only 11% of the world’s population can enter without a visa,
the Caribbean is, together with Oceania, the second most open
subregion in the world: 39% of the world´s population can enter
without a visa and 2% has the ability to obtain a visa on arrival.
Destinations in the two other subregions – Central and South
America – also abolished visas for a comparatively high number of
source markets, making the Americas the leading region in terms
of visa exemptions (32% of the world’s population does not need
a visa to visit the Americas; see table 1).
Africa requires a visa prior to departure from 62% of the world’s
population, but, at the same time, has the highest percentage
of countries whose visitors are able to obtain a visa on arrival
(28%). However, this figure varies significantly across the African
subregions. In Central Africa, the use of traditional visas – required
for 91% of the world’s population – is highest of all Africa’s
subregions. East Africa, in contrast, has the lowest in the world:
only 32% of the world’s population is required to have traditional
visas. Visa on arrival is popular in East Africa (60%), making East
Africa together with South-East Asia the second most open
subregions in the world.
In the Middle East, 72% of the world’s population is required to
obtain a traditional visa prior to departure to any of its destinations,
but 20% are allowed to obtain a visa on arrival and 7% to use an
eVisa. Interestingly, the Middle East has the highest percentage
of the world’s population able to apply for an eVisa. At the same
time, however, the abolishment of any visa is the lowest among all
five regions, with only 1% of the world population not required to
obtain a visa of any kind.
European destinations are among the more restrictive,
requiring, on average, 74% of the world’s population to obtain
a visa before departure, while 21% is not required to obtain a visa
and 3% can obtain it on arrival. All four European subregions show
more or less comparable patterns.
In summary
• Visa exemption is most common in the Caribbean (39%) and in
Central America (31%);
• Visa on arrival is comparatively common in East Africa (60%) and
Southeast Asia (30%);
• eVisa is particularly popular in South Asia (11%), the Middle East
(7%) and Central Africa (7%);
• Traditional visas are most prevalent in Central Africa (91%),
North Africa (85%), and North America (83%), followed by the
four European subregions, Southern Africa and the Middle East
(all 70% or higher).
Cook Islands
Dominica
Micronesia, Federated States of
Niue
Haiti
Macao (China)
The Philippines
Georgia
Hong Kong (China)
Mauritius
Turks and Caicos Islands
Fiji
Guyana
Montserrat
Seychelles
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Vanuatu
Rwanda
Ecuador
Mali
Cape Verde
Guinea-Bissau
Mozambique
Nepal
Togo
Uganda
1
5
6
7
8
12
13
17
18
19
21
Least restrictive destinations
Name of destination Opennessa
Source: Data compiled by the UNWTO, based on information of national official institutions.
a. Scores range from 0 to 100; the higher the score, the better. Destinations with the same score are tied, and so have the same rank; these appear in alphabetical order in the table. Openness indicates
to what extent a destination is facilitating tourism. It is calculated by summing the percentage of the world population exempt from obtaining a visa, with the percentages of visa on arrival weighted by
0.7 and eVisa by 0.5.
100
100
100
100
99
85
84
80
80
80
80
78
76
76
76
76
75
73
72
72
71
71
71
71
71
71
8

6. Tourism visa openness report Tourism visa openness report
Reciprocity
In 2013, 16% of all visa policies analyzed were mutually
open, while 36% of the policies were mutually closed.
Furthermore, in 2% of the pairs, both countries had visa on
arrival, while in less than 1% of the pairs10
, both countries
had an eVisa. The remaining 46% were non-reciprocal
combinations.
Between 2008-2013, reciprocally open policies, i.e. both
countries do not require each other’s citizens to obtain
a visa, have slightly increased from 14% of all pairs to
16%. In the same period, reciprocally closed policies, i.e.
both countries do require each other’s citizens to obtain
a visa, have considerably decreased to 36% down from
57%. However, the biggest shift has been observed in
other combinations (29% to 46%) where countries have
unilaterally opened up by introducing no visa required, visa
on arrival or eVisa.
Analyzing openness while taking also into account the
stage of economic development, the following observations
can be made for 2013:
Advanced economies have among each other a high level
of reciprocity in openness with 89% reciprocity of no visa
required. Only in 11% of the pairs, no visa is required by one
country, while a traditional visa, an eVisa, or visa on arrival
is required by the other (of which only eleven cases where a
traditional visa is required).
However, a negative reciprocity is dominating relationships
between emerging economies with 41% of mutual policies
requiring a visa, while 21% of policies are reciprocally open
and in 3% both countries issue a visa on arrival. Of the
asymmetric policies, most common is a visa on arrival on
one end and a traditional visa on the other (24%). A unilateral
exemption on one end and traditional visa on the other can
be observed in 11% of the pairs.
In the case of relationships between emerging and advanced
economies, in 20% of country pairs policies are reciprocally
open and in 30% visa is required on both ends. In 22% of
the pairs, emerging economies issue a visa on arrival, while
advanced economies require traditional visa. In 19% of the
pairs, the emerging economy has unilaterally exempted the
need for a visa, while the advanced economy requires a
traditional visa.
5
World Reciprocity
% Reciprocal
% Reciprocally `no visa required´
% Reciprocally `visa required´
% Reciprocally `visa on arrival´ or `eVisa´
% Not reciprocal
2008
71%
14%
57%
0%
29%
2010
68%
16%
52%
0%
32%
2012
54%
16%
35%
3%
46%
2013
54%
16%
36%
2%
46%
2013 / 2008 Change (% pts.)
10. For this analysis of reciprocity, data has been used on 37,830 country pairs in total (195*195-195) for the four years 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013. As each pair is combined with its reciprocal (for
instance China-France with France-China) there is consequently only half the number of reciprocal pairs (i.e. 18,915).
-17%
+2%
-21%
+2%
+17%
Progress in recent years
6
W o r l d
Reciprocity
No visa
Visa on arrival
eVisa
Visa
No visa
Visa on arrival
eVisa
No visa
Visa on arrival
No visa
No visa
Visa on arrival
eVisa
No visa
Visa on arrival
No visa
2008
18.915
10.294
3.059
422
12
6.801
8.621
2.535
4.263
693
177
150
509
76
74
15
6
3
120
20100
(%)
54
16
2
0
36
46
13
23
4
1
1
3
0,4
0,4
0,1
0,0
0,0
0,6
2012741
661
660
-
1
-
80
11
-
-
66
-
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
2013100
(%)
89
89
-
0
-
11
1
-
-
9
-
0,4
-
-
-
-
-
-
6.084
3.061
1.220
25
2
1.814
3.023
1173
1330
187
17
11
11
76
74
15
6
3
120
W o r l d
Reciprocity
No visa
Visa on arrival
eVisa
Visa
Visa
Visa
Visa
eVisa
eVisa
Visa on arrival
Visa
Visa
Visa
eVisa
eVisa
Visa on arrival
12.090
6.572
1.179
397
9
4.987
5.518
1.351
2933
506
94
139
495
-
-
-
-
-
-
2013100
(%)
54
10
3
0
41
46
11
24
4
1
1
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
100
(%)
50
20
0
0
30
50
19
22
3
0,3
0,2
0,2
1
1
0,2
0,1
0,0
2
Emerging and
advanced economies
Emerging economiesAdvanced economies
Total
Travel between
Visa facilitation reciprocity for travel within and between the groups of advanced and emerging economies, 2013
Reciprocal
Not
reciprocal
Emerging/Advanced
Source: World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) ©
Note: Advanced economies and emerging economies classifications are based on the International Monetary Fund (IMF); see the Statistical Annex of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook of April 2012,
p. 177, at www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01.
2013 - World population affected by visa policies
Visa required: 64%
Visa on arrival: 15%
No visa required: 18%
eVisa: 3%
2010 - World population affected by visa policies
Visa required: 75%
Visa on arrival / eVisa: 8%
No visa required: 17%
2008 - World population affected by visa policies
Visa required: 77%
Visa on arrival / eVisa: 6%
No visa required: 17%
2012 - World population affected by visa policies
Visa required: 63%
Visa on arrival: 16%
No visa required: 18%
eVisa: 2%
Total
Advanced/Emerging
109

7. Tourism visa openness report Tourism visa openness report
Focus on regional and economic blocs
Looking into the evolution of visa formalities in
recent years, data shows a recent and strong
tendency toward visa facilitation. At the
beginning of 2008, destinations around the world
required, on average, 77% of the world’s population
to obtain a traditional visa before visiting; this
percentage went down to 75% in 2010 and further
down to 64% in 2013 (Figure 1).
The reason for this remarkable and substantial
improvement to facilitation between 2010
and 2013 is the determined action taken by
governments. In total, visa requirements
were facilitated for 5,930 destination-source
market pairs between 2010 and 2013 (table
3). Destinations facilitated the visit of citizens of
another country by either simply abolishing the
visa requirement altogether, or allowing a visa to
be obtained on arrival or in electronic form (eVisa).
A total of 44 destinations significantly
facilitated travel for citizens of 20 or more
countries by changing their visa policies
from visa required to eVisa, visa on arrival,
or no visa required. These 44 destinations
introduced a total of 5,180 individual measures
and contributed by far the majority of the 5,930
total improvements introduced by all destinations
between 2010 and 2013. This significant
improvement demonstrates that destinations,
when reviewing their visa policies, tended to
thoroughly review and introduce changes.
Analyzing all facilitation techniques, the most
common change was from visa required to
visa on arrival, which represented nearly
60% of all changes. Although eVisa and similar
measures were also introduced, their importance
was still minor in comparison to the other
facilitation measures.
Number Destination Number of improvements
Destinations which improved visa procedures
for 20 or more countries of origin (2010-2013)
Source: Data compiled by the UNWTO, based on information from national official institutions.
Note: An improvement is the facilitation of a visa formality by either simply abolishing the traditional paper
visa or allowing an eVisa or visa on arrival. Each destination–country of origin pair is calculated.
Niue
Micronesia, Federates States of
Palau
Sao Tome and Principe
Djibouti
Haiti
Mozambique
Azerbaijan
Rwanda
Guinea-Bissau
Burundi
Togo
Cape Verde
Mali
Uganda
Guyana
Lao (P.D.R.)
United Arab Emirates
Kenya
United Republic of Tanzania
Ecuador
Bolivia
Macao (China)
Armenia
Sri Lanka
Georgia
Nicaragua
Montserrat
Tajikistan
Mauritius
Bonaire
Zambia
Bangladesh
Kyrgyzstan
Cayman Islands
Panama
French Polynesia
Saint Lucia
Nauru
Burkina Faso
Ethiopia
New Caledonia
Trinidad and Tobago
Australia
Swaziland
195
194
194
194
192
191
189
181
181
180
179
179
178
172
161
157
144
141
140
128
127
123
120
119
116
111
108
91
79
75
57
57
55
52
51
50
47
47
45
37
35
34
27
25
22
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
42
43
44
Subtotal 5180
Other destinations 750
Total positive changes made between 2010 and 2013 5930
7
1211
When analyzing regional and economic blocs, in general higher
levels of reciprocal visa exemptions between the members of
these economic blocs than the world average can be observed.
Very high levels of open reciprocity exist, for example, between the
members of the Schengen Area (100% open reciprocity among
the members), ECOWAS (99%) and OECD (83%). Members of
the G20 have, with 65% of policy pairs being reciprocally open,
still a high level of open reciprocity, which is four times higher
than the world average of 16%.
World Average
Schengen Area
ECOWAS
OECD
ASEAN
G20
CAFTA-DR
SADC
APEC
NAFTA
PAFTA
16%
100%
99%
83%
78%
65%
43%
42%
40%
33%
18%
Open reciprocity among members
of selected regional and economic blocs, 2013

8. Tourism visa openness report Tourism visa openness report
Besides the 65% of open reciprocal visa policies within G20 in
2013, only 18% of the policies are mutually closed with both
countries requiring visas while the remaining 17% of policy
pairs are non-reciprocal combinations. Despite the fact that the
amount of mutually open visa policy pairs within G20 remained
the same between 2008 and 2013, mutually closed visa policies
decreased slightly by 2%.
Developments in open reciprocity among advanced and emerging
economies within selected regional and economic blocs, 2008 - 2013
Schengen Area
OECD
G20
APEC
61%
58%
83%
79%
91%
85%
100%
100%
Schengen Area
OECD
G20
APEC
35%
45%
38%
46%
50%
73%
100%
100%
2008
2013
AdvancedeconomiesEmergingeconomies
When looking at the 2013 world average open reciprocity for
advanced and emerging economies, all advanced economies
within selected economic blocs (excluding the Schengen Area)
show a lower level of mutually open visa policies. While the
world average for mutually open policies between advanced
economies is 89%, among advanced economies of economic
and regional blocs, open reciprocity ranges from 58% to 100%.
In contrast, only 10% of all emerging economies’ visa policies
around the world are reciprocally open in 2013, while mutual
open reciprocity among emerging economies within the regional
and economic blocs ranges from 45% to 100%.
1413
Open reciprocity among members and between members
and non-members of regional and economic blocs, 2013
100%
25%
99%
1%
83%
23%
78%
14%
Schengen Area
ECOWAS
OECD
ASEAN
G20
CAFTA-DR
SADC
APEC
NAFTA
PAFTA
65%
20%
43%
22%
42%
8%
40%
20%
33%
18%
18%
1%
Open reciprocity among members
Open reciprocity between members and non-members
Looking at the G20 facilitation measurements in detail, it becomes
clear that, although open reciprocity among members remained
the same with 65%, the percentage of open reciprocal visa
policies between emerging member economies increased from
38% to 46% between 2008 and 2013, while this percentage for
advanced economies decreased slightly from 83% to 79%. This
observation can also be seen within APEC, for example, where
emerging economies increased their open reciprocity from 35%
to 45%, while advanced economies decreased their mutually
open visa policies from 61% to 58%.
In addition, it is interesting to note that the benefits of visa
facilitation taking place within economic and regional blocs are
not limited to the members but also affect the relationship with
non-members. At 20% open reciprocity between members and
non–members, G20’s open reciprocity to non-members is still
above the world average of 16%. Similar observations can be
made for Schengen (25%), OECD (23%), CAFTA-DR (22%), G20
and APEC (both 20%) and NAFTA (18%), indicating that priority
actions within regional or economic cooperation blocs also
positively impact the relationship with other economies.

9. Tourism visa openness report Tourism visa openness report
Outbound potential
and visas
Citizens around the world are differently affected by visa policies.
While some countries’ citizens enjoy enormous advantages as
they are hardly requested to obtain visa, neither traditional nor
upon arrival, others are constantly faced with the challenge of
obtaining visa before departing from their own country. However,
when comparing data of 2013 and 2008 the total mobility score
improved for citizens of all countries without exception. This
indicates that, though at different levels, tourists are experiencing
more mobility.
The following table lists those citizens which have enjoyed the
highest levels of mobility in 2013. They can travel to 75% of the
worlds´ destinations without requiring a visa prior to departure.
Interestingly, when comparing data between 2013 and 2008 for
the promising outbound markets of Brazil, Russia, China, India
and South Africa (BRICS), it becomes clear that destinations
are making special efforts to facilitate visa formalities for tourists
originating from these prospering economies. Russian and
Chinese citizens were benefitting the most from these newly
introduced visa facilitation measures comparing 2013 and
2008 data. Brazilians, already enjoying a high level of mobility,
continued improving further.
Data indicates that destinations competing for these fast growing
outbound markets use visa facilitation as a means to increase
their competitive advantage.
Most mobile citizens 2013 Mobility
Countries whose citizens are affected the
least by visa restrictions
Source: Data compiled by the UNWTO, based on information from national official institutions.
Note: Mobility indicates to what extent citizens around the world are affected by visa policies.
The higher the score, the better. It is calculated by summing travel visa policies required of
each country´s citizens with weights of 0.7 for visa on arrival and 0.5 for eVisa.
Finland
Denmark
Sweden
United Kingdom
Germany
United States of America
The Netherlands
Ireland
France
Belgium
Portugal
Singapore
Spain
Luxembourg
Norway
Austria
Italy
158
157
157
156
156
155
155
155
155
155
155
155
155
154
154
154
154
1
2
4
6
14
Mobility - BRICS Countries
World average
Advanced economies
Emerging economies
Brazil
The Russian Federation
India
China
South Africa
2008
63
129
49
103
43
34
24
75
2010
69
134
56
112
57
37
26
76
2012
85
151
71
141
80
51
43
85
2013
83
150
70
141
82
49
40
82
2013 / 2008 Change (%)
Note: For this analysis of reciprocity, data from 37,830 country pairs in total (195*195-195) has been used for the four years 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013. As each pair is combined with its reciprocal (for
instance China-France with France-China) there are consequently only half the number of reciprocal pairs (i.e. 18,915).
32%
16%
41%
37%
92%
44%
67%
10%
8
Outlook
In 1963, the United Nations Conference on International
Travel and Tourism stressed the dependency of tourism
development on the actions of governments, especially
the facilitation of governmental formalities for international
travel. Fifty years later, in November 2012, the UNWTO/
World Travel Market Ministers’ Summit in London concluded
that visa processes and policies still present major barriers
to travel and tourism. The Summit noted that restrictive
visa-issuance policies and complicated entry formalities
are still stifling tourism growth, particularly from emerging
economies, which are also some of the fastest-growing
source markets for tourism.
However, it is also evident that the link between visa
facilitation and economic growth through tourism is
increasingly recognized by national authorities, which have
accompanied such recognition with concrete facilitation
measures. The clear and strong tendency to ease visa
procedures first observed during the period 2010-12,
continued in 2013 and is likely to continue in the future.
UNWTO will continue to promote and advocate for visa
facilitation to support economic growth and development
through tourism. As requested by the 94th session of the
UNWTO Executive Council (October 2012) UNWTO has
prioritized visa facilitation within its work. In cooperation
with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the
World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and other partners,
UNWTO will continue to provide case studies, evidence
of the relationship between visa facilitation and tourism
growth as well as benchmarking information to support this
important process of visa facilitation for tourism.
9
1615

10. Tourism visa openness report
17
Selected regional and economic blocs
Overview regional and economic blocs
APEC
(Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)
ASEAN
(Association of Southeast Asian Nations)
CAFTA-DR
(Dominican Republic -
Central American Free Trade Agreement)
ECOWAS
(Economic Community of West African States)
G20
NAFTA
(North American Free Trade Agreement)
OECD
(Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development)
PAFTA
(Pan-Arab Free Trade Area)
SADC
(Southern African Development Community)
Schengen Area
21 member economies
10 member economies
7 member economies
15 member economies
21 member economies
3 member economies
27 member economies
17 member economies
14 member economies
26 member economies
Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong
(China), Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russian Federation,
Singapore, Taiwan (Province of China), Thailand, United States of
America, Vietnam
Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand,
Vietnam
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua,
Dominican Republic, United States of America
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-
Bissau, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra
Leone, Togo
Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia,
South Africa, Republic of Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, United
States of America, Spain*, European Union**
Canada, United States of America, Mexico
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg,
Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal
Slovakia
Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia,
Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco, Yemen
Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa,
Swaziland, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
*Spain is a permanent G20 invitee and also included in the report.
** For the report, the EU was defined as the EU countries which have fully implemented the Schengen Agreement, i.e., all EU countries except Ireland, UK, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania.

11. 12